darn it, now I'm going to have to come up with a different name for my planned ultimate guide to smoky (for experts). FYI I intend to release it when I reach the generalissimo rank. Great job on the article overall. It truly is the best smoky guide I have seen yet, and, (as a smoky specialist who has repeatedly looked up any useful post about smoky) believe me when I say I have some authority behind that compliment. My overall complaint would be that you didn't go in depth as much as you could, but what you have done is still more then the other smoky guides I have seen. I will get to specific inconsistencies/mistakes you made another time, but for now I need to go to sleep.

Just_T the thunder is more widely used right now, that might change in the future though.

Sorry about the slow response Kirby. I have been very busy lately. 1. Alright, I will tell you the secret to fighting MOST thunders with a smoky. The reloading time of the M3 thunder, (those are the ones I am currently fighting) is 2. 3 seconds per shot. First you have to memorize this instinctually (and adjust for MUs), then you can apply it to a battle. (I am a bit worried this post will make the readers who use thunder harder for me to fight, but I suppose I need a challenge) MOST, but not all, thunder users hold their fingers down on the spacebar as they reload when they believe they are aimed correctly. It is this mistake that makes thunders easy for me to kill when I am close. Due to the smoky's 1.5 times faster reload you can always be assured of getting the first shot. Using this shot, hit the thunder at about .2-.3 seconds before he reloads (this is more instinct than anything). Some thunder users are skilled enough not to press the spacebar, but most don't have the presence of mind to stop themselves from firing into the distance, (even 3 or 4 times in a row :D). Now comes the hard part. If the smoky user fired his 2nd shot as soon as it reloaded, the thunder would reload, fire, and damage the smoky before the smoky could knock him off target. This means that the smoky will have to decide if it is willing to give up firing 3 shots to the thunders 2 in exchange for possibly keeping the thunder from hurting it at all. Meanwhile, the (assumed to be skilled) thunder has not realized what the smoky is doing, but has become more careful in his shooting and more likely to hold his thumb above the spacebar until the moment of reload, (giving the thunder a reaction time window of about .2 seconds to stop himself from firing when knocked off target) this means that the smoky user will have to add a pseudo psychology factor to the already memorized reloading equation. He will have to predict the exact moment when the opponent decides to fire and twitches his finger muscles in the .1 second window BEFORE he actually begins to press the spacebar. That is the window of opportunity the smoky must fire at. This is extremely hard, but it is certainly possible, I have used it before to great effect. Now I must show the flaws in this strategy that forced me to say that only most thunders can be beaten like this and not all. First, the thunder must not be next to you or rammed into you for the impact to turn him enough, (of course this means he's doing splash damage to himself too :D). Second, he must be using a Viking or lighter to turn him enough, ( and Viking only turns enough half the time) Third, a not only skilled but smart thunder will be patient with his second shot, if he waits just .3 seconds after he reloads to fire then the smoky will not be able to predict it, (unless these 2 have dueled before and the smoky knows his tricks and patterns [unlikely]) 2.A. The thunder's max ranged damage and the smoky's max ranged damage have been switched. This does sometimes cause a problem. That is why the smoky must always keep his range in mind. I use the mental picture of the max range of a twins,which is almost equal to the max damage range of a smoky. He must always remain on the move and fight like a guerilla in order to fight well. This is fairly easily done and negates thunder's range advantage in most cases. 2.B. Now I will address thunder's splash. The special ability of the thunder is more predictable then the smoky , so it can be used as part of the strategy. This allows thunder to do some pretty neat things. In order for the splash to hurt multiple enemies the enemies in question must be fairly bunched together, and as long as your teammates are smart, they will not fall for this most of the time. The splash damage is also a two-edged sword, there is a well know tactic for killing even drugging thunders. Charging and ramming a thunder while you fire at it forces the thunder to hurt itself extra in order to get rid of you. (Personally this is the main reason I don't use thunder.) "(what about the splash) giving it versatility to hit enemies that a smoky's shot could never reach?" I am assuming you are reffering to the thunder's ability to hit enemies in cover, or shoot enemies without exposing itself from cover. This is indeed a useful ability, but the smoky balances that with it's impact force. The smoky is able to move out from cover without fear of return fire as long as the smoky is able to knock the enemies off target and has good battlefield awareness. this same impact force also allows the smoky to "storm the base" of the hiding enemy , (as long as it isn't a firebird or a freeze) and quickly continue to a strategic point or the enemy flag without getting trapped in an extended sniper duel.

I would like to see this story brought to it's originally planned conclusion. right now it's just sitting on a cliffhanger.

waiting for the next one

wonderful job

"when it does, the pulse ******s" what exactly does that mean? The electric pulse, perhaps? (peekasmoky)

Nice job, Tommy

"poem:what now" is opening a picture rather than the poem

Nice job.

the protection amounts of the prize paint was not given in the v-log. Can you please tell us how much it is?

I think releasing it in English will be a good idea, I know I would buy it.

Oddly enough, quoting doesn't work on my computer. This is in response to lordmostafa and The killerpenguin: I am a m2 smoky/hunter specialist, (though I am learning smoky/hornet for light format wars). I will take the speed of hunter over the hp of Viking any day. Here are the reasons for that. I can keep up with, and kill, the little hornets running away with my flag when my team's dedicated defenders cannot react quickly enough, as I too often find to be the case. ( ^ and v are the 2 most important) I often find myself in close combat situations without support and, whether against close range turrets or otherwise, I find that I need the speed, (and the smoky impact) to dodge, outrun, and slip past the fire of enemies. (you should see me outmaneuvering m3 isida/hornets that don't turn their turrets fast enough ^_^ :ph34r:) My *digital paint can give me just as much survivability as Viking, except against thunder**. *{42% vs rail (survives DPed m3s), 15%smoky, 10%shaft} **(Viking takes 3 DPed thunder shots to my 2). Every second spent running to cover, your flag, the enemy flag, or targets of opportunity, is precious,( and I don't want to give the snipers a target for any longer than I have to.) Take a look at the hp differences at m3 between Viking and Hunter, 7 hp means absolutely nothing the way I fight, but 1 mps certainly does. :D I can probably think of more when pressed, but for now this is why I think hunter is the best choice with smoky. P.S. The close turning speed keeps my smoky on target when I HAVE to turn my tank and fire accurately at the same time.

I'm seeing hardly any discussion about a skilled smoky user keeping a thunder user from ever hitting it by preemptively knocking off it's aim. Coming from an m2 smoky specialist myself, the special ability of smoky isn't it's crit at all, (you can't predict it, so it never comes into my battle strategy). It's the combination of impact force, reload, and precision that becomes nigh on unbeatable when used by a skilled player against light and medium hulls that is the smoky's defining, and deadly, characteristic. I know that thunder beats smoky in dpm until m3+, but as far as overall usefulness to a team, thunder doesn't even come close to smokies ability to play defensive, offensive and mid-field fighter roles with equal effectiveness. Smoky can destroy attacking convoys by flipping, killing or using the impact force on a front corner and making the enemy ram into a wall. Running cappers can also be flipped at ramp tops when you need to return a flag. It can survive for an amazing amount of time in mid-field positions by deflecting all shots aimed at it, and will often occupy nearly half of the opposing team in trying to kill it. {I've fought and defeated, (without cover) 3 railgunners at once without a scratch 2 times now}. The offensive role of a smoky should really be that of flanking support for the drugging ricos, twins and isidas by killing and destabilizing enemies who are targeting the cappers,but If you are not able to attack in a convoy your best option is to deflect the DPed shot of the defending shaft (or rail) and hightail it out of there while firing backwards and using the impact force of your shot to slow, deflect, and destroy pursuit, (requires you to memorize the map). BTW all of these scenarios are assuming the player is extremely skilled with smoky. When used WITHOUT skill smoky becomes almost useless. If anyone has any opinions on my statements I would be happy to listen.

you need to stop pasteing that "so here's the 2nd in the series"

Thanks a lot for this guys, it might have been a bit small, but it is the first I have ever seen the smokies praised for their extreme usefulness when controlled by a skilled, and hyper-aware, player. As a smoky specialist myself, who intends to lead my clan to the star series, I thank you for your advice, general as it may be, I think I will play in RU2 more.

I second killerpenguin I have been using smoky for 3 years and I can tell you for a fact that it cannot multikill.

RustyNail : I am an example of an extremely active and experienced tanker, (been here since 2011) who has never spent a penny on crystals. I get enough reward for my skills that I can always get what I want if I am careful. I am the leader of a rising clan and I do not intend to ever leave tanki. So, in answer to your question, No, tankers do not have to buy in order to get very interested in the game and it's many aspects. BTW: I'm might never have bought directly, but I am useful to tanki for my free advertising of their game and for convincing several people who are willing to buy, ( ex. OKDad70 is a buyer I convinced to play).

Very well done, I really enjoyed this poem. keep up the great work.

Great job once again, and I can't wait until the hunter article. I am a hunter / smoky specialist* and I'm wondering how you will rate it. *I'm still deadly with my railgun though, I started using it at captain when my then m1 smoky was outclassed by all the m2 turrets running around. Now I just use rail for clan wars.

Great job again Tommy, I can't until you decide to finish your smoky XT chronicles. Oh well, maybe next issue part 9 will come out.

Good tips, but most will take too much time to "think" about. For anyone who read this to try and get better, keep these tips in mind, but realize that they won't be very helpful until you make them instinctual. When these techniques are no longer pulling any of your attention from the basic demands of winning the current firefight THEN you will become far better.

I would also like an English version of this.

May I suggest adding differently colored headers for each scene change. if you plan to write stories in chunks this large then anything which makes it look less like just a wall of text is better. Great story btw, but I think you need to get an editor for a few grammatical mistakes.

I'm looking forward to the complete story. Good job.